Just in time for those Secret Santa, Hostess or Teacher Gifts… custom notecards. Personalized cards are a great way to send a quick note, write thank-yous, or create your own stationery. They’re perfect for any occasion and the ideal gift for all the women on your holiday list!

Cards are 4 5/8 x 6 1/4 when folded, with a panel inset. A package of 12 cards (3 each of 4 designs) is only $12.

Send payment via PayPal to kim@chicgraphicdesign.com and a separate email with the names you’d like on the card. Click HERE for a photo representation.

4 designs... package is a set of 3 each.

I LOVE fonts. I really love them. I promised myself that when I have an extra $300 I was going to purchase a new one I found online the other day. That is somewhat disturbing. That said… I WILL NOT be buying or using this particular gem:

new font?

I’m all about subtlety in logo design. When you find the balance between quirky and cool, it can be magical.

I’ve been reading alot about the hidden arrow in the FedEx logo and just trying to picture in my head (the logo), I am coming up with nothing. I had to go to their website to see it and it doesn’t do it for me. The “arrow” is meant to represent the speed of FedEx’s service. To me, it just looks like “turn right.”

In case you’re not seeing it immediately… it’s the white space between the E and the x. That was not nearly as fun as finding the hidden Mickeys at DisneyWorld.

You know how in certain blogs, you see the tags on the side and the words appear in random sizes? I never quite knew the reason for the giant fonts but obviously there is a reason because wiki says so. I’ve seen this as a design trend as well over the past few years as well. Then I stumbled upon this nugget of joy. Grab a random block of text and play! Make sure to hit randomize at the bottom for new typefaces and configurations.

I could do this all day.

Okay, perhaps hate is too strong a word to use, but there are fonts out there that need to never surface again. I can’t say I am the best designer at putting together a really cool, innovative font combination… I tend to stick to the classics or the tried and true. I do love to see a designer that gets it right. Really knows his or her stuff where font combining is concerned.

I thought I was the only one that REALLY hated certain fonts. I am not alone. This man has a particular distaste for Comic Sans and who can blame him.

This person is more thorough in their 5 fonts I wish would die. In case you don’t want to read the whold thing: Papyrus, Lucida Handwriting, Monotype Corsiva (how many times do you see this one in all caps – bleeech), Comic Sans (it’s a trend) and Times New Roman. I agree with them all, though Times New Roman only mildy irritates.

If you’re wondering which font is my absolute Glamour Don’t of all time…

vomit-inducing Hobo

You can imagine my horror when, years ago,  I saw that my father’s company had used this Hobo for the yellow-pages ad in the phonebook. If he was advertising clown noses, maybe, but he has a CPA firm. So wrong. Luckily, it has been rectified since that dark day.

One more hated font… and it was so bad that I’ve blocked the name of the font from my memory (and apparently erased all traces of it from my computer as well) so I can only describe it. Think Olivia Newton-John, leg warmers and headband, cut-off shirt with the words “Physical…” that one.

In an article posted on designweek.co.uk it seems that some are questioning whether the designer of the iconic Obama poster is a deserving winner of “Design of the Year.”

Fairey’s iconic Obama (HOPE) poster

According to the article:

Jonathan Ellery of Browns Design finds it ‘ridiculous’ that the posters won last week’s design accolade.

While praising the awards exhibition currently on show at the Design Museum, Ellery says, ‘If you know your points of visual and cultural reference, then the poster is merely stereotypical political ephemera, unworthy of such a prestigious award.’ He attributes the poster’s success at the Brit Insurance Design Awards to Obama’s Midas touch.

‘If you subtract the glorious politics, you are left with a very average piece of work that has been carried along on a pro-Obama wave of euphoria,’ Ellery adds.

Accusations of unoriginality have even run to a legal case against Fairey. The Associated Press is claiming compensation for the use of one of its photographs to create Fairey’s Hope and Progress images.

REALLY? If a design inspires others to copy it (obamicon me, for example)… it’s worthy.

I have yet to try this (I’m too cheap to shell out the $9) but it looks cool. This site generates a font based on your own handwriting. Check it out!

Everyone is sick to death of hearing about the economic crisis but this takes the cake. Twitter, ranked 64th in popularity of websites reportedly paid the designer of it’s “birdie” graphic $6 or less. I was shocked and horrified until I read that Twitter bought it from a stock company. Hmmmm. I buy from stock companies all the time so I guess I have nothing to complain about.

To my clients: I get more than $6.

Read the full story here.

I looooovvvveee typography. I really do. My cousin, Tracy, sent me this cool Periodic Table of Typefaces and I’m seriously going to print and frame it. I wonder if geeky scientists do the same with the Perdiodic Table of Elements. Thank you, Tracy!

Periodic Table of Typefaces

This original article, by Stephen D. refers to web typography, but I keep seeing the same mistakes over and over in print as well. Using dumb quotes is a particular hate of mine and I see it in national campaigns all the time. The following are common among non-graphic designers, but if you ARE a designer you should know better and figure out how to turn on smart quotes (or at least force them.) Gosh, I am a punctuation snob.

While many designers have been quick to embrace web standards, it’s surprising how often the basic standards of typography are neglected. Here are ten deadly sins to avoid in your web typography:

1. Using hyphens instead of an em dash

If you need to interrupt yourself, do it with an em dash (—) instead of a pair of minus signs. This is a top pet peeve for countless editors.

2. Using periods instead of ellipses.

Most fonts provide a dedicated ellipsis character (…) to keep your type tidy. The ellipsis character fits the three dots into a single letterspace, which is especially beneficial for content that might be printed.

3. Using dumb quotes

These straight “up and down” quotes used in your markup should stay in your markup. In your content, only use them to indicate a measurement in feet or inches.

4. Double-spacing between sentences.

The antiquated practice of double-spacing between sentences seemed like it was finally laid to rest thanks to web typography. Just a few short years ago, it required manually inserting a blank ASCII space to commit this font faux pas. Now, some content management systems will actually format the double-spacing for you if you let them. Don’t give them the chance! Only use single spaces between sentences.

5. Improvising a copyright symbol.

Not only is it ugly and lazy, a copyright symbol hacked together out of a capital C and parenthesis might not even cut the mustard in court. Use the real McCoy (©), and bill your clients extra for the legal advice.

6. Using too much emphasis.

You can bold text. You can italicize it. You can underline it. You can even use all caps if you really need to hammer home your point. Just don’t use more than one at the same time.

7. Underlining your hypertext links.

Underlines cut right through the descenders in your typeface, making it harder to read. Instead of text-decoration: underline;, use border-bottom: solid 1px #00f; to draw a line below your text instead of through it.

8. Faking families in Photoshop.

If your font doesn’t offer (or you couldn’t afford) the bold, italic, or smallcaps branches of the family tree, don’t try to fake it in Photoshop. Sometimes you can get away with it in print, but at web resolutions, it’ll be a mess.

9. Not using accent characters.

I know how annoying they can be (especially when you’re writing about Ikea furniture), but if somebody’s name includes an exotic character, be polite and include it.

10. Not using CSS for capitalization effects.

I know it’s CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL, but if you’re using caps (or lowercase) for decorative reasons, be sure to use the text-transform property. It’ll save a lot of trouble if you ever decide to change things later.

About the author

Steven D. is a web developer so secretive that he won’t even tell you his last name without entering a mutually-binding NDA. In his free time, he enjoys working instead of enjoying his free time.